Nashville 3, Detroit 2
When: 12:00 PM ET, Sunday, April 15, 2012
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Referees:
Steve Kozari, Tim Peel
Linesmen:
Jonny Murray, Brad Lazarowich
Attendance:
20066
By SportsDirect Inc.
PREDATORS 3, RED WINGS 2: Defenseman Shea Weber and Kevin Klein scored goals and netminder Pekka Rinne made them stand up with 41 saves as Nashville won its first-ever playoff game in Detroit.
Sergei Kostitsyn added a late goal and Rinne withstood a 19-shot, third-period onslaught to give the Predators a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored for the Red Wings, who had a potential tying goal disallowed when it failed to beat the buzzer by two-tenths of a second at the end of second period.
Nashville had been 0 for 6 for the postseason at Joe Louis Arena but grabbed the early lead on Weber's first-period power-play tally and never relinquished it against the league's best home team during the regular season.
Ahead 1-0 courtesy of Weber's goal at 2:48 of the opening period, Klein doubled the lead at the 3:50 mark of the middle session.
Taking a feed from Martin Erat, Klein blew by Brad Stuart and whipped a shot that beat Jimmy Howard high to the glove side at 3:50.
Datsyuk got the Red Wings back in the contest with a brilliant individual effort. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Datsyuk stole the puck from Roman Josi behind the net and tucket it past a surprised Rinne at the 15-minute mark.
The biggest moment came as time expired in the second period, when Johan Franzen's apparent tying goal crossed the line just after the clock hit 0:00.
Detroit pressed for the equalizer in the third period, outshooting Nashville 12-0 in the first nine minutes, but Kostitsyn made it 3-1 by snapping a wrister past Howard with 3:30 to play.
That allowed Nashville to survive Zetterberg's tally with 51.9 seconds to play and take a 2-1 lead into Tuesday's Game 4 in Detroit.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Detroit was the league's best home team with a 31-7-3 record and NHL-record 23-game winning streak, but one of the losses came to the Predators on March 30. ... Weber's early power-play goal snapped Detroit's string of killing 12 consecutive penalties in the series. ... Kostitsyn ended an 11-game drought without a point. Predators D Hal Gill sat out his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury suffered when he blocked a shot against Dallas on April 5. ... All three games in the series have ended with a 3-2 score.
Top Game Performances
| Nashville |
|
Detroit |
|
Kevin Klein 2 |
Points |
Pavel Datsyuk 2 |
|
Kevin Klein 1 |
Goals |
Pavel Datsyuk 1 |
|
Kevin Klein 1 |
Assists |
Pavel Datsyuk 1 |
|
Shea Weber 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Henrik Zetterberg 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Pekka Rinne .953 |
Save Percentage |
Jimmy Howard .864 |
|
Pekka Rinne 41 |
Saves |
Jimmy Howard 19 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Nashville
|
22 |
3 |
1-4 |
3-4 |
12 |
32 |
| Detroit
|
43 |
2 |
1-4 |
3-4 |
12 |
26 |
Upcoming Games
-
Detroit will play their next game at home against Nashville. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .694 after a win and .424 after a loss.
-
Nashville will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Predators have a W/L % of .542 after a win and .647 after a loss.
For more information, contact us